Batman, who received Mason's call, was standing in front of the porthole of a break room at the base of the watchtower, looking out from orbit around the Earth with some kind of tired old man.

He saw the remnants of a shattered world.

A few hours ago, the Justice League used three Mother Box Bombs to shatter the center and continental shelf of the incoming world, and before it could cross the plane boundary and affect its own world, it was dismantled by the work of a group of spellcasters.

The whole process is seamless.

Under the cover of the world-covering enchantment presided over by Doctor Fate himself, it didn't even cause any waves.

Aside from the mobilized activists and K-Squad and a few talented people, this night was no different from last night for the vast majority of the people of Gotham.

Countless people fell asleep peacefully, unaware that their existence had just passed by death.

But for Bruce Wayne, who personally presided over and participated in the operation, the process did not make it easy for him.

Especially at a moment when the world is shattered before his eyes, Batman feels only a heavier worry and an unspeakable pessimism.

At this time, a group of heroes led by Superman who can survive in the space environment are cleaning up the debris of the world outside the orbit, and most of the collapsed fragments have been pulled back to their original plane in the rewind of the dimensional pacification.

But there are still traces that must be cleaned up.

Frankly, this scene really looks like the murderers are rushing to clean up the scene after a murder.

At this time, in the face of Mason's meaningful inquiry, the old man was silent for a moment, first activated the data encryption that he always carries with him to prevent the call from being eavesdropped, and then whispered:

"Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"No, I just got bad news from my companion when I just returned from another world."

Mason didn't hide anything, this was not a good time to pretend to be a riddler, and in the howling wind of Miller Harbor, he said bluntly:

"My companion is in your hands, is the Kite Man still alive?"

"In the confinement cell, Diana watched him personally."

The old man also replied frankly:

He didn't suffer much, although he resisted violently when Superman captured him, and at one point tried to kill himself by poisoning. I have to say, Charles Brown is very loyal to you, Mason, he wasn't so tough when he was under Zhou Keer.

What are you going to do next? ”

The old man paused and asked:

"Escape? Still."

"I've already called you, Bruce."

Mason let out a sigh of relief and said:

"And you owe me a personal favor."

"Favors can't be used for this kind of thing."

The old man refused:

"I can guarantee that you and your companions will not be harmed, provided that you cooperate and come to 'live' in the watchtower for a while. Selena told me that you have some kind of taboo not to tell too much truth.

But I think we can always find a tactful way to get what both sides desperately need. ”

"You know it can't be!"

Mason was also unambiguous, and directly refused:

"That means we're exposed to 'them', that means we're going to be traitors and being hunted down by an organization that spans countless worlds.

It's not that I don't distrust your abilities.

I'd rather work with you than with them, but not now.

I'll get it straight, Bruce.

I'm making this call for a showdown with you, but not with the Justice League or anyone else.

I'm sure you can keep it a secret and understand why you need to do it, but I don't trust the people around you, even if they're a brilliant group of defenders and fighters. ”

The young man coughed a few times and said:

"Selena should have told you that the stars will still have a lot of eyes in this world, and from the darkest point of view, I have to pessimistically see all members of the Justice League except you as a potential threat.

Bruce, I want Charles back safely!

In exchange, I will give you a gift of a 'personal nature', the kind that will definitely satisfy you and your friends and keep your mouth shut. ”

"It's really necessary to think very carefully, maybe we can meet."

After thinking for a long time, the old man said:

"Having seen firsthand the troubles we faced, I'm sure I can convince some credible people."

"No, I only trust you now, especially if you've destroyed a world with your own hands."

Mason shook his head and said:

"I don't know if this decision was made by you but the act itself. It means that I have to be wary of you. ”

"There are no living people in that world, and we detected it seven times in various ways before we acted! We can make sure of that, it's full of wandering zombies, without any signs of life. ”

Batman said in an accentuated tone:

"It didn't hurt anyone, and you know, we have to."

"Your tone sounds like a child who has done something wrong is powerless to justify, Bruce, and you know it's not right."

Mason snorted and said:

"Perhaps you can convince yourselves that there is no need to save a monster-infested world, and that you must do the right thing for the sake of your world and its people.

I can't fault anything, and I'm not a radical Madonna.

But I only have one question for you.

This time you can destroy it, but next time, what will you do? ”

The leader of Team K said to the other end of the line:

"Let's assume that the next time you encounter a world with the same outbreak of a plague, more than 99% of life has been extinct and transformed into bloodthirsty monsters, and only 1% of the living are still in shelters around the world.

When you don't have enough time left to find and rescue them, will you make the same choice?

Can convince yourself for the same reason.

Your own world is obviously more important.

Then next time, if there is 30% life left in that world, next time, there will be 50% life left. I could go on and on, but I think you already know what I mean.

Once path dependencies are developed, they can have terrible consequences.

The first step in destroying the world is always the hardest to overcome, but once you have the first time, it's not so difficult to make a second decision.

The third time will make sense, and you will even start to look forward to the fourth.

Especially on the noble grounds that you still have an entire world to protect, I am confident that some of you will eventually sing the praises of this destruction.

Phew, you may think that I am only nitpicking on a necessary salvation and a great victory, but I will tell you, it is not so!

Bruce!

I've just returned from a world of destruction.

I've seen the destruction of two worlds just like you, but unlike you who simply destroyed the zombie planet, I saved the last 1% of the survivors of that world."

Mason closed his eyes and said:

"With less than a million people left, it's also a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic wasteland, perfect for the most extreme scenarios I've just described.

If it had been the one that collided with our world this time, would you have made a different decision? 7 billion people and 1 million people, which is more important when you put them at opposite ends of the scale?

If we can choose the majority with peace of mind, then one day in the future, when a world with more lives than we have and we are faced with the difficult choice of having to die.

Can we calmly face the end of self-sacrifice? ”

Mason paused, looked up at the stars again, and said:

"The choice the stars will make about it is to ignore it, and they will discard it as 'worthless'. The Justice League has just gotten off to a bad start, which means that you could one day become another 'Stars' as well.

And Bruce, have you ever thought deeply about why the stars are 'polluting' on a large scale in the parallel world system? ”

This question silenced the old man.

He looked out the porthole at the dark stars, and vaguely saw the remains of some strange zombie creatures that had been thrown into the wreckage of the stars after the world exploded, wandering aimlessly as space junk.

After nearly a minute of reflection, Batman replied in a mute voice:

They want to make us feel more comfortable making such cruel decisions, to take the pressure out of our decision-making, so that we can realize that selfishness and salvation can go hand in hand.

When all the survivors have their hands stained with blood, there is no one who can justifiably hold up the moral archway.

If this is a race, then they are making the rules of the game, extinguishing the spark of communication and sending everyone into the dark forest of naked life and death.

They're shaping a star that speaks violently.

If they can stir up more divisions between the good and the bad while looking for collaborators, they will have an advantage when it comes to the 'finals'.

It's a vicious ethical trap that we've just stepped into. ”

"You can see through it, but I only realized it when I was reminded of it."

Mason laughed and said:

"What they're doing is pushing an already bad situation into the worst zero-sum game, but I think there's another way to solve this problem than to knock out the dog's brains of the worlds that have survived the shock.

I haven't found a way yet.

I don't even have an idea.

But I think we should give it a try, after all, we still have some time.

I hope to have your help in this process, Team K has come this far, and we will continue to lurk in that organization to find more truth and information.

I'll lead the process.

As for you.

I hope you'll cooperate with us to disguise your identity.

I think there are opportunities in any crisis, such as this conflict, if it works well, it can wash away our suspicion of betrayal.

After an irreconcilable clash between Team K and one of the world's most powerful Guardians, our promotion to the Star Society will only go more smoothly.

After all, they had never given up infiltrating this super-A-class dangerous country.

They need us.

Therefore, we will be safe when we show just the right value.

Give me the weakness of the watchtower's defenses, Bruce, and you don't have to worry about the rest of the rest. ”

"Is it really a fake show?"

The old man asked.

Mason shook his head and said:

"No matter how much the fake is disguised, it will be discovered, so this time it has to be a real gun! You don't have to go through the trouble of making a plan for us, you just need to let out a little water when there is a real conflict, and don't really use the 'anti-K team tactics' in your private database. ”

"Hmm."

The old man nodded.

He looked at the dark sea of stars in front of him, and after a few seconds of silence, he said:

"Mason, can I trust you?"

"I don't know."

Mason Says:

"But you can trust Selena, and I'll send you a gift to Wayne Manor, a 'conqueror' from the Stars Society's superior organization.

He must have had many, many secrets in his head.

I wanted to do it myself, but I'll leave it to you for now, and it's up to you how much you can dig up.

In addition, I have a 'Communication Representative' from a B-class world that also rebelled against the tyranny of the Stellar Society, and he represents a powerful civilization that has repelled the infiltration of the Stellar Society head-on.

They're looking for a collaborator, and there's no better way for you to reach out to them.

You can also choose someone you trust to join our 'secret pact' slowly, and I trust your prudence in this regard, but don't let them know too much just yet.

After all, Clark Kent has a wife and children, Diana Prince has her clan mother, and even you, Bruce, you have your lover, family, and children.

Each of us has a weakness.

But now that I'm going to ask. ”

The young man raised his eyebrows and said:

"In such a lively matter, didn't that Dark Monarch jump out to brush up on his sense of existence? You've dealt with him before, right? ”

"The passage of the Apocalypse Star and even the entire fourth dimension was completely closed a few years ago, and not only Darkseid, but other cosmic-level villains have disappeared."

The old man whispered:

"They're obviously not going to get involved, but that's a good thing, we really don't have that much energy to deal with them anymore in the current situation."

"Where's the Morbius chair?"

Mason narrowed his eyes and asked:

"Is that thing in your hands? Before you decided to destroy a world to save your own, didn't anyone propose to sit down and ask the truth of the universe? ”

"Mason."

The old man turned back with intense exhaustion.

Glancing at the futuristic chair behind him, which was covered by a magical silk, he whispered:

"How do you think this cruel decision was made and agreed to by everyone? I asked it personally, and this was the advice it gave me, and it said it was the only way. ”

"Well, that must be the wrong way you asked."

Mason Says:

"I don't believe that destroying each other is the ultimate answer, maybe it's because you didn't ask the right question, you should try it with me next time."

"Do you believe in miracles? Even after seeing all this? ”

The old man asked faintly.

Mason did not answer immediately, and after several seconds of silence he said:

"Yes, Bruce, I believe in miracles."

He hung up.

At the moment when he put the flip phone in his pocket, Mason said the second half of what he didn't say:

"After all, I'm a miracle myself"

He said this to himself, and then looked up at the starry sky.

Those stars shine brightly.

It's like a gorgeous diamond on a dark curtain full of cruelty.

"Whoever sent me here, I believe their purpose was definitely not just for me to watch and document the collapse and destruction of an entire system of parallel worlds.

This is a super difficult 'test'. ”

Mason let out a sigh of relief, and under the empty night sky of Harbor Miller, he put his hands in the pockets of his gray trench coat, looked up at the starry sky, and whispered:

"The answer lies beneath the stars, and my mission here is to find it. But it's really too difficult."

He lowered his head, took out a pack of silk cigarettes for Zakon from his bag, and popped one out of his mouth and held it to his mouth, the action that made the black sorting hat on his head unhappy.

Mr. Hat scolded:

"Hey, Mason, minors are not allowed to smoke!"

"Today is my 18th birthday, just after twelve o'clock two minutes ago, and I'm an adult."

Mason didn't lift his head and let out a ball of fire.

In the first wisp of smoke rising, he swallowed the clouds like a skillful old smoking gun and said:

"This is definitely the worst birthday of my short life, and given the current situation, I think Mr. Hat should be more lenient with me.

For the sake of me having captured a conqueror whom you hate so much.

You probably should."

"Doodoo"

Before he could finish his sentence, the phone in his pocket vibrated twice.

Mason picked up the phone in surprise and flipped over the lid, and several messages popped up in a row.

There's one from Catwoman, one from Nightwing, one from Barbara and her daddy Gordon, and one from Dr. Leslie and Harley Quinn.

The text message at the top is from the old man who is far away in space, and their content is surprisingly consistent.

"Happy birthday, Mason."

"Hmm"

Mason pursed his lips, tossed his still ringing phone back into his pocket, looked up at the night sky that had not changed, took a deep breath of smoke, and threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

He complained:

"Look, what are these bastards doing with all this sensationalism? I almost burst into tears. Ah, I must be so hungry, and lo and behold, the unassailing saliva is pouring out of my eyes. ”

(End of chapter)